Established in 2006, American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL) provides critical perspectives and analysis of indigenous peoples in children's and young adult books, the school curriculum, popular culture, and society. Scroll down for links to book reviews, Native media, and more.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Cynthia Leitich Smith: LOC Webcast

Wondering if there were any videos on-line of Cynthia Leitich Smith, I did a bit of web searching and found one! In 2002, she was speaking at the National Book Festival in Washington, DC. Cynthia has three wonderful books: Jingle Dancer is a picture book, Indian Shoes is easy-reader short stories, and Rain is Not My Indian Name is a YA story. Cynthia reads from RAIN in the video. To view it, click here.

She was there this past year (2007), too. This time, she read from her new book, Tantalize, which is a work of fantasy, about vampires, set in a restaurant. To view this clip, click here..

First Peoples listed AICL as one of the Top Five Native Blogs and Podcast to follow. School Library Journal's Elizabeth Burns featured AICL as her Blog of the Day on July 2, 2007, and in 2007, the ALA's Association for Library Service to Children invited Debbie to write a blog post for their site.

American Indian? Or, Native American? There is no agreement among Native peoples. Both are used. It is best to be specific. Example: Instead of "Debbie Reese, a Native American," say "Debbie Reese, a Nambe Pueblo Indian woman."